Bryan issued statement on federal COVID-19 relief bill

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said on Dec. 29, 2020, that the U.S. Virgin Islands would receive funding and other benefits under the $900 billion federal COVID-19 relief measure signed into law by President Donald Trump on Dec. 27, 2020.

In a statement, Bryan highlighted $600 direct stimulus payments, an extension of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rent moratorium through Jan. 21, 2021, and said the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue had already begun distributing the stimulus payments.

He also said the territory expected to receive funding from a new $25 billion federal emergency rental assistance program for families affected by COVID-19. The assistance could be used for past-due and future rent, as well as utility and energy bills.

Bryan said a separate section of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 approved Virgin Islands projects under the Water Resources Development Act, including navigation projects for Christiansted Harbor and St. Thomas Harbor, the Savan Gut flood-control project, and the Turpentine Run Road flood-control project.

The governor's statement also said the law extended the deadline for using CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund money to Dec. 31, 2021; made the territory eligible for at least $100 million through the Education Stabilization Fund; provided funding for COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, surveillance, containment, mitigation, and vaccine distribution; and made CDC grant funding available.

The statement said the territory also could receive about $5 million to $7 million in Child Care and Development Block Grants, about $3 million for fisheries disaster assistance, an extension of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance through April 5, 2021, an increase in maximum benefit weeks from 39 to 50, and an extension of the $300 weekly Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation through March 14, 2021. It also said another $245 billion was available nationally for the Paycheck Protection Program.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-bryan-issues-statement-on-covid-19-relief-bill/